The telemedicine consumer experience takes a giant leap forward today with a new solution pioneered by an innovative collaboration between Change Healthcare and Doctor On Demand. In a first for the telemedicine market, Doctor On Demand, a leading video medicine provider serving health plans, enterprise customers, and the direct-to-consumer market, is now using the Change Healthcare Intelligent Healthcare Network™ to empower consumers to choose the most convenient and cost-effective lab for tests ordered by network physicians.

Before this forward-thinking collaboration, telemedicine patients waited to be told by their provider where and when to go for lab work--with little or no control over scheduling or cost. Moreover, patients were told to go to a lab that may have been out of network, raising their costs. Now, when a Doctor On Demand physician sees a patient over a video visit and determines lab work is needed, the doctor can order the tests and refer the patient to nearby labs for testing. Patients then have the option to choose a lab that works best for them based on location and costs. When testing is complete, the clinician can then send the results directly to the patient-all through the Doctor On Demand application. This allows for a seamless telemedicine experience that fully empowers patients to take charge of their own health.

"Is it really telemedicine if you're not providing the service through the application?" said Steve Aylward, senior vice president, Partner Enablement, Change Healthcare. "In the past, when a consumer needed a lab test, they had to go offline and wait to be told where to go. Now, this entire process can be managed within the Doctor On Demand application, with lab orders electronically routed to testing centers based on a patient's geographic location--thanks to the breadth and advanced technology of the Change Healthcare Intelligent Healthcare Network."

The new Orders and Results solution connects laboratory and ancillary services to Doctor On Demand providers, producing cleaner orders and more satisfied patients. Lab results and reports are delivered directly to the physicians, streamlining workflow and reducing manual effort. Change Healthcare electronically delivers more than 60 million results and clinical reports, and over 14 million orders per year on its Clinical Network.

"We're proud to partner with Change Healthcare and its extensive network to further improve the patient experience via telemedicine. Change Healthcare's eagerness to explore new ways to route lab orders, and their close relationships with leading labs, were the essential elements in enabling this innovative patient interaction," said Hill Ferguson, CEO, Doctor On Demand. "Doctor On Demand has the first and only fully-integrated labs capabilities of any telemedicine provider. We've taken a major step in advancing the quality and range of services provided via telemedicine to extend the doctor-patient relationship through long-term care."

As Nashville Medical News was going to press, Bill Carpenter, who has led LifePoint Health since 2006, announced his intention to retire following the merger with RCCH HealthCare, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Nashville General Hospital recently named Eric Stephens, CAP, chief analytics officer. Stephens will serve as a key member of the hospital's executive leadership team, working to direct and implement population health initiatives and to form a robust data infrastructure to provide accurate, intelligent analysis.

And in related news ... Glenn Hargreaves, formerly chief accounting officer for Tivity Health, has accepted the same position at Quorum Health. Hargreaves spent six years as CAO with Tivity, where he also served a brief stint as interim chief financial officer.

Clover Health has expanded to Middle Tennessee. The healthcare company that uses data and technology in an effort to improve outcomes, recently announced a significant national expansion by offering Medicare Advantage health plans in Davidson, Rutherford and Williamson counties.

NashvilleHealth, founded in 2015 by Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, MD, to harness the force of community-wide collaboration to improve Nashville's health outcomes, recently announced the addition of three new members to its Governing Board.

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) released a voter guide that details where the two major candidates for Tennessee's United States Senate seat stand on three important federal policy issues that affect cancer prevention and treatment.

Less than two weeks before the historic 2018 election, the Nashville Health Care Council hosted a dynamic discussion with nationally known policy experts, offering insights on the state of health care policy.

The Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences (MINS) at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce an international call for submissions for its annual Rising Star Award in neuroscience research.

Tennessee representatives of several major health organizations held a teleconference today to warn that tax reform proposals currently moving through Congress could hurt the health care of millions of Americans and raise costs for families with serious medical needs.